ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York state lawmaker is demanding a federal investigation into New York state's care for the disabled following a recent Associated Press story that revealed the case of a man infested with maggots in a state-run group home.Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, of Utica, told the AP on Saturday that he is asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the group home and other state-regulated facilities for the disabled where there have been allegations of abuse and neglect.A copy of the report was obtained by The Associated Press, which found that New York state is not alone in making it difficult for members of the public to access records about allegations of abuse and neglect in state-regulated facilities for the disabled.

Databricks, which provides software to help fuse big data and artificial intelligence, announced today that it has secured an additional $140 million in funding in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from New Enterprise Associates (NEA). New investors include Battery Ventures, Future Fund Investment, A.Capital Partners, Geodesic Capital, and Green Bay Ventures. “Only one […]

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Bald eagles have made a remarkable recovery across the United States since the pesticide DDT was banned 45 years ago, but the majestic birds are still dying from another environmental poison: lead from bullets and shotgun pellets in wildlife carcasses left behind by hunters.In New York, which has been a leader in the bald eagle restoration in the Northeast for four decades, state wildlife researchers have documented a growing number of eagle deaths from lead poisoning in recent years.In New York, lead poisoning was confirmed as the cause of death in 38 of 336 bald eagles brought to a Department of Environmental Conservation lab near Albany between 2000 and 2015, said state wildlife biologist Kevin Hynes, who does the necropsies."Eagles are doing very well, their recovery is a great success story largely supported by excise taxes paid by hunters" on lead ammunition and guns, said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Association.Virginia wildlife advocate Clark said that rather than a ban on lead ammunition, his group is seeking a public education campaign so hunters are aware of the problem and how they can help.

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Corruption and a rigged political system are battle cries of both sides in a debate over whether New Yorkers should vote this fall to rewrite the state constitution.Advocates of a "yes" vote say a constitutional convention is the only way to fix dysfunction, corruption and inefficiency in government and throw the bums out of Albany.Environmental groups fear a convention could open the door to delete or weaken protections for clean air and water, healthy forests and the 6-million-acre (2.4-million hectare) Adirondack Park.The real money involved in this is the labor unions that are trying to block a convention because they have great sway with this government and don't want it to change, said Gerald Benjamin, a political science professor and co-editor of a new book, New York's Broken Constitution:Right-to-Life and Planned Parenthood; the Conservative Party and left-leaning Working Families Party; LGBT Network and New York State Rifle and Pistol Association.Benjamin said a convention is the only way to fix problems with administration of elections, campaign finance, the structure of the court system and the Legislature, which he believes would be more effective with one house instead of two.